Florida State Seminoles Take Series Against Miami Hurricanes...Again

We saw pretty much everything this past weekend; good pitching, terrible pitching, offenses that couldn't be stopped, offenses that couldn't buy a run, great defensive plays and defense that resembled little leaguers. All in all you couldn't ask for better results if you are the Seminoles as they won the season series against Miami for the SIXTH year in a row. That's right, much like football the Noles have dominated the Canes, the last time Miami won a weekend series was 2009.

Friday night's game was a six hour marathon that lasted 17 grueling innings and at times was almost unwatchable. Florida State held a 3 run lead heading into the bottom of the 7th before the bullpen melted down and the defense did no favors. The game was tied at four after nine innings and remained that way until the 11th when the Noles produced a run on only one hit to take a 5-4 lead. That lead was again coughed up after back to back wild pitches moved a runner from second to home. Again the Noles took a one run lead into the bottom of the 13th and 14th inning but more mistakes in the field and by pitchers allowed the Canes to tie it up. In the 17th inning Ben Deluzio singled, stole second, advanced to third on a sacrifice fly and then scored on a wild pitch. Will Zirzow would finally end the game, Noles winning 8-7, despite allowing a single in the bottom of the inning.

Saturday night the Noles found themselves down early losing 2-0 entering the top of the third but by the end of the 5th inning the score was 15-2 and Florida State never looked back. Three hit nights from John Sansone and DJ Stewart along with Danny De La Calle's 8th homerun of the season propelled the Seminoles to a 15-5 victory. The offense stole the show but the real player of the game was starting pitcher Mike Compton who threw 8 innings, he wasn't brilliant as he allowed 11 hits but his job was to give the bullpen some rest and that is what he did.

Sunday was payback for Miami as they crushed every single pitcher that Florida State threw at them. Starter Drew Carlton only pitched into the third inning allowing 7 runs on 7 hits which included two homeruns. Bryant Holtmann didn't fare much better in relief, he retired 1 of the 4 batters he faced, walked 2 others and served up a three run homerun. Miami would continue to pile it on scoring runs in six of the eight innings the offense came to the plate while the Noles could only manage 7 singles on the day falling 12-0 in the finale.

Florida State took the series on the road against a top 15 team, a series victory that will look extremely impressive to the committee come selection time. While it doesn't feel like this is one of the top 8 teams in the country they do have the resume to back it up. Their RPI currently sits at 6 having played the 13th most difficult schedule in the country. Only UCLA, Texas A&M, LSU and Virginia have more wins against top 50 RPI teams. Florida State and Miami lead the country with most victories against top 100 RPI teams with 23 a piece.

This season was expected to be one of rebuilding and while there are a tremendous amount of flaws this team still is capable of making some noise in the postseason. This is not a team that could win it all, their pitching and defense is far too weak, but if they get hot a trip to Omaha is not out of the question. Regardless of how this team finishes this season has already been a tremendous success as they have exceeded expectations of even the most optimistic fan. Florida State is off this week but will welcome in a solid Coastal Carolina team this weekend.